03 June 2017

al-tanf is a growing problem

"The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) continued slowly advancing the Bir Qasab and Al-Dakwa in the desert east of the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Furthermore, warplanes of the Russian and Syrian air forces continued targeting US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants in the area aiming to force them to withdraw from the area.

The US-led coalition announced it had reinforced its forces in the Al-Tanf area on the Syrian-Iraqi border. The coalition also said that it views the “Iranian-backed forces” as a threat to its troops in Syria, which are fighting ISIS.

According to the commander of Jaish Maghawir al-Thawra, Muhannad al-Tala, there are currently 150 US soldiers in the Al-Tanf, along with soldiers from five other countries of the US-led coalition, including two Arab countries.

According to unconfirmed reports, Syrian government forces are currently located 40 kilometers from the town of Al-Tanf.

It is believed that the current priority of the SAA is to secure the capital Damascus through regaining control of Al-Dakwa and Bir Qasab.

Mattis or someone else at the national command level has decided to reinforce US coalition forces at the base near al-tanf. It would seem that the idea is to retain control of SE Syria for the purpose of training local forces to use against the Syrian government. IS forces in the area seem implausible as the projected enemy for these forces trained at al-tanf. The R+6 is fighting IS just north of al-tanf. If IS forces were the projected enemy the logical US coalition attitude would be to cooperate with R+6. pl

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"The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) continued slowly advancing the Bir Qasab and Al-Dakwa in the desert east of the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Furthermore, warplanes of the Russian and Syrian air forces continued targeting US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants in the area aiming to force them to withdraw from the area.

The US-led coalition announced it had reinforced its forces in the Al-Tanf area on the Syrian-Iraqi border. The coalition also said that it views the “Iranian-backed forces” as a threat to its troops in Syria, which are fighting ISIS.

According to the commander of Jaish Maghawir al-Thawra, Muhannad al-Tala, there are currently 150 US soldiers in the Al-Tanf, along with soldiers from five other countries of the US-led coalition, including two Arab countries.

According to unconfirmed reports, Syrian government forces are currently located 40 kilometers from the town of Al-Tanf.

It is believed that the current priority of the SAA is to secure the capital Damascus through regaining control of Al-Dakwa and Bir Qasab.

Mattis or someone else at the national command level has decided to reinforce US coalition forces at the base near al-tanf. It would seem that the idea is to retain control of SE Syria for the purpose of training local forces to use against the Syrian government. IS forces in the area seem implausible as the projected enemy for these forces trained at al-tanf. The R+6 is fighting IS just north of al-tanf. If IS forces were the projected enemy the logical US coalition attitude would be to cooperate with R+6. pl